Big Back to School Sale and a Freebie for you!

Hi everyone! How can it be back to school time already? Eesh ! Well those of you in other parts of the country may have already started. We have just under a month of summer left here. I have a big update for you and a freebie too!

Isn't he so cute?!

What is your big goal this year? Mine is to focus on improving my students' writing this year. With that in mind, I came up with my own Interactive Notebook. Why are so many people using them? Because they are interactive, which makes them fabulous! The kids are more engaged than with basic worksheets. They are flipping flaps and looking under tabs for information, gluing, cutting (a secret fave of mine since the little ones need the fine motor practice) and they are creating their own manual that they keep adding to. They make an organized resource for themselves that they can use all year, and in the future. And it is an excellent record of their work - so much in one little book!

Now, I don't think I said that in the best or most clear way, so please check out these blog posts which were a huge help to me:

Erin Cobb's blog post on Interactive Notebooks has a TON of terrific ideas. As you might know here from her store and blog name, I'm Lovin' Lit, you know she is the expert on Interactive Notebooking for Grades 4-8 (and maybe just all ages-she is that good!).

Jen Bengal at Out of this World Literacy also is terrific at explaining what it all means, and she has a great post here about using them to connect with the Common Core State Standards. Check it out!

I decided to design my Interactive Notebook a little differently that others that I have seen for the primary grades because I LOVE the item of them but my students seem to have a hard time with some notebook pages for these reasons:

1) Fonts can be cute but hard to read

2) We are learning how to use capital letters correctly, but some cute fonts have capital letters and lower case letters interspersed through words. Adorable but confusing.

3) Sometimes the borders and graphics for the primary grade interactive notebooks are super adorable, but all of the zig zaggy lines, curlicues, and different size clip art is visually distracting.

NOW I absolutely love all of the above myself (cute fonts, adorable borders, etc., and prefer it for lil' ol' me, but for my kiddos, I wanted to go simpler. I love all of the author teacher-authors' stuff out there - I just had to fiddle around and do some different things to meet my needs. :)

Here is a sneak peek at the cover and a couple collages I put together to show you what is inside (160 pages)! Click on any image or here to see it at my store.

Lots of different kinds of fun flap books, accordion books, and more!

Plenty of resource pages for kids to refer to.

I included photo examples of many of the flap and accordion books!

I also revamped some products by changing the covers to match my style more closely and by changing fonts so that the activities for children and the teacher information is easier to read. Here are a couple examples of the updates! Click on any image to see it at my store,

By the way, this Writing Prompt Collection* is my #1 best seller and most wishlisted item! It is updated so snag it during the sale!

I added I Can posters for your kiddos to the fall writing prompt collection and will be adding them to all my writing products! * By the way, the price on all my writing prompt products will increase when I add them due to the additional content. If you do not have them, now is the time to snag them! If you already have them, do not worry. You won't miss out! When you look on TPT at your purchased products, a flashing message will appear when I update them so you can download the revision!

I also have a fun blog post where I linked up with the lovely Deanna Jump of Mrs. Jump's Class for her Book Talk Tuesday. My theme was 16 Back to School books. Check out the post for more details and please comment with your own favorite back to school book!

And finally, OH YES, I did not forget! Here is my Writing Prompt FREEBIE! It is a prompt for your kiddos about what they would do if they were in charge of their house! Fun huh? And I always include a checklist for accountability! Enjoy!